1. Contrition on the part of Israel
1Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh. 2In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the LORD said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.’” 2 Samuel 5:1-2 (ESV)
Why did Israel come? The short answer is that they had come to their senses.
16“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” Numbers 27:16-17 (ESV)
The elders acknowledge their own hard-hearted rebellion to God.
The elders should have appealed to God’s Word first instead of last.
We should learn from the elders’ mistake and place the primacy of authority on God’s Word in all our decisions.
2. Covenant between David and Israel
3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. 2 Samuel 5:3 (ESV)
Just as God binds his people to himself through covenant, God binds believers to one another in a similar manner.
3. Confirmation for David of God’s Word
3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.
4David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. 2 Samuel 5:3-5 (ESV)
“Before the Lord” is a phrase that emphasizes the personal presence of the Lord in which some action is taken.